Valves (AFP)
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner pledged Saturday to "do everything" to ensure the safety of firefighters, the closing of the congress of a profession that called him to do more to avoid "implosion" of overloaded services.
"I am committed to ensuring that everything is done for your physical safety during the interventions," said Mr. Castaner in his speech to the 126th National Firefighters Congress, held this year in Vannes (Morbihan).
If they remain limited (five per day out of 10,000 interventions), incivilities or aggression against firefighters have not tripled for ten years, according to the ministry.
Mr Castaner confirmed the launch "in the coming weeks" of a major communication campaign against firefighting attacks, and welcomed the first "positive" results of the pedestrian camera-firefighter experimentation. deter potential abusers.
He also pledged to increase cooperation with the police to accompany firefighters in response to risks, by paying tribute to the "courage" and "disinterestedness" of firefighters, "models for society" .
While welcoming the authorities' involvement in security, the president of the National Federation of Firefighters of France (FNSPF), Gregory Allione, for his part called on the minister to finally transform into acts the commitments made in recent years by the government in favor of firefighters, solicited on all fronts: fires, floods, various help.
"Our rescue model is working and working, but it is overheating and threatened with rupture, and the fire and rescue services are on the brink of implosion!" He said.
"The expectation of answers from the firefighters of France has only grown: they can not, longer, be deferred, and must lead to a real and ambitious civil security policy," said Mr. Allione.
In particular, he invited Mr. Castaner to urge the government to finally set up in each department a single call center with the unique emergency number 112, including emergency numbers 15 (samu), 17 (police) and firefighters. (18).
And to take more measures to preserve volunteerism, essential base of the firefighters in France because 80% of them (on a total of 247.000 approximately) are so, and carry out their activity often in addition to their professional activity.
© 2019 AFP